Court to

decide fate

of farmland

needed for

pipeline

Hearing held

in St. Peter on Wednesday

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

ST. PETER -- A handful of landowners came to the Nicollet County courthouse Wednesday to attend the first of two hearings about the city of Hutchinson's condemnation cases.

Dakota County District Judge Rex Stacey listened as attorneys representing Hutchinson and landowners in Martin, Watonwan and Brown counties made their cases Wednesday afternoon.

After the presentations, Stacey said he would wait until the second hearing on June 12 to issue an opinion.

Hutchinson is seeking a court order that would allow it to use farmland in those counties plus Sibley, Nicollet and McLeod counties to build a 90-mile, $23 million natural gas pipeline for its utilities commission. The pipeline would run from Hutchinson to Trimont.

The city had originally filed condemnation cases in all six counties. However, a recent order from the Minnesota Supreme Court consolidated those cases into two cases because they all dealt with the same issues. The condemnation proceedings started after some 130 landowners refused to accept Hutchinson's offers to use their land.

Attorneys for both sides of the dispute brought Stacey up to speed on the cases Wednesday afternoon. They repeated arguments made earlier in the various district courts.

Attorneys for Hutchinson said the city has the right to take private land and use it to build a pipeline under the part of state law that allows cities to create utilities for their citizens. That law states cities can take and use private land as long as it is for a public purpose, said attorney Bruce Hanson of Minneapolis.

Attorneys representing the landowners said the court shouldn't grant Hutchinson access to private land because its authority to use eminent domain either does not exist or if it does, Hutchinson hasn't followed the proper procedures to notify landowners of where the pipeline will cross their properties, attorney David Allegeyer said.

Stacey said he won't issue an order until after the second hearing on June 12 in St. Peter.

Allegeyer claimed Hutchinson has kept landowners in the dark about the specific routes the pipe will take. He said many farmers were shown a map and told the pipe will come within 1.5 miles of the lines drawn on the map. He said farmers won't benefit from the line because only the cities of Hutchinson and New Ulm will be allowed to tie into the pipe.

"This uncertainty is being used against them," Allegeyer argued. "Hutchinson has short-circuited this process, so we have a problem."

Hanson replied to Allegeyer, saying state law gives cities a right to use eminent domain for any purpose authorized by law. He pointed to another part in state statutes that said cities have the right to construct the necessary facilities in order to maintain utilities, which can go beyond city limits.

"It's only common sense," Hanson countered. "It's just an extension of the gas utilities the city has run for 40 years."

Attorney Reed Glawe of New Ulm, representing Hutchinson, added that many of the landowners, who gave depositions about their experiences with Hutchinson, knew where the pipe is going and were given adequate notice of the project. He pointed to a route change the HUC made in Watonwan County to accommodate a landowner that cost the city an extra $25,000. He said the substations along the route were also set out in the eminent domain petition, which all parties saw.

Allegeyer later said the case presents "an issue of authority" for which there is no clear path yet.

Stacey said he won't issue an order until after the second hearing on June 12 in St. Peter. When an order comes, Stacey will issue a set of findings specific to each of the two cases.

Glawe said Hutchinson will serve condemnation orders and pay its assessed land values if the court upholds the city's petition. He said the project won't go away if the petition is rejected. Hutchinson would likely "have to make an assessment" and could appeal the decision or restart the process entirely in such a situation.